There may be hope yet for other organizations and governmental units dealing with dysfunction. You may remember a couple years ago quite the controversy surrounding the White County Housing Authority. We published multiple stories from January through March of 2021 detailing complaints involving the organization’s top brass. The White County Housing Authority serves Norris City, Crossville and Grayville with a total of 115 housing units specifically for the elderly and low-income families. Chris Birkla joined the Housing Authority Board in February of 2022 after Pam Deig was hired as the new executive director and most of the former Board had resigned.
Birkla now serves as the chairperson and says Deig and staff have done an exceptional job of managing the properties. Deig joined the organization after Leanne Short resigned and another Executive Director was hired but only lasted 6 months. Deig was further hampered by joining the agency right after CoViD when the group wasn’t allowed to do unit inspections or require residents to pay rent.
The most recent HUD inspection returned a score of 99% which Birkla calls outstanding considering the state of the bureau when Deig inherited it.
See the report: HUD INSPIRE 2024 Summary
